Joe Liebermans Concession Stand

Joe Lieberman lost his primary election by a landslide of somewhere it looks to be between three and four percentage points. I call that a landslide when you consider the incredible ground his victorious opponent, Ned Lamont, gained over the course of roughly three months. Thanks to the unwavering hostility towards Lieberman and enthusiastic support for Lamont by such leftist blogging establishments as The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, and AmericaBlog-all three of which are included on the Blogroll, by the way-in addition to support from liberal figures and organizations such as Jim Deans “Democracy For America”, and MoveOn.org, and Michael Moore, it was almost, in retrospect, an inevitability.

The anger, in some cases hatred, toward Lieberman, was intense, even visceral. Joe LIEberman. Joe Looserman. Joementum. Holy Joe. Nomentum.

Well, when you have to reassure your own party members that you are not the leader of the oppossition party, you know you might well be on the way out.

There were plenty of reasons for honest disatisfaction with Liebermans positions and record. For me, it was his support of the vile and evil bankruptcy bill that was mainly a Republican gift to the credit and banking industry. It was to my way of thinking a reward for predatory lending practices, and encouragement for more of the same. It was a hearty “fuck you” to all those who have amassed a mountain of debt, whether it be from carelessness, ignorance, intentional abuse, spendthrift immaturity, unforeseen circumstances beyond their control, and in not a few cases, through outright lies and deceptions by the industry. It made no difference to the supporters of this bill. It was a stop-gap measure, a band-aid solution to keep America’s plastic, credit based economy afloat for just a few more years, before it eventually, inevitably, crashes like a Joseph Lieberman campaign rally.

There were those who blamed him for supporting the war on terror, and who remembered he was one of the original sponsors of the Homeland Security Department, back when that newest cabinet department was previously oppossed by Bush, who then proceeded to hijack it and twist it to suit his own ends. Every abuse, real, potential, and imagined, that has been blamed on the agency, has been left at Liebermans doorstep, despite the fact that, in the final analysis, he had little-actually nothing-to do with how the new agency took shape and evolved.

Finally, of course, while there are other reasons, the main reason is his support for the Iraqi War, and his overall and bluntly stated support for the nation of Israel, which has been unwavering and unflinching. Of course his detractors point out his Jewish heritage and wonder just who he is loyal to, America or to Israel.

Finally, they call into question his loyalty to the Democratic Party, in the wake of his recent announcement to file a peition with the Connecticutt State Attorney General’s office to run for re-election as an Independent. There are people who spend hours on the Internet raging about this latest development. Before this, some seemed to spend all their waking moments on the subject. Now, they never sleep, it seems. The anger and hatred has turned into a manic frenzy, and has evolved to the point where this is considered as a warning to other Democrats who once supported the war in Iraq. Hilary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards-they’ve all been put on notice.

The defeat of Lieberman has been turned into a call to arms, a demand for complete Far Left Liberal Democratic orthodoxy-and woe be unto any that spout the heresy of compromise and bi-partisan cooperation.

Personally, I am sorry that Lieberman has decided to pursue this route, though I was one who had hoped he would rally back from behind and pull off a victory. But, he did not. Within five minutes of his announcement remarking of how he had phoned Ned Lamont to congratulate him on his victory, he went on to announce his plan to file the following day. He used a sports metaphor. Lamont is ahead, but the game itsn’t over, it’s only half time.

Lamont for his part called for an urge for a return to investment in America, for a fix to the current health care crisis, for a return to fiscal responsibility, and an end to the war. He sounded good, there was something even Kennedyesque about the speech. Provided he doesn’t later come out with the typical Far Leftist lunacy positions such as gun control, death penalty moratoriums, overly permissive immigration policies, and a few other things, I can support him, and will support him.

I’m afraid though that Liebermans third party candidacy might well be the factor that enables the Republican Schlesinger to emerge victorious. Though no one as of now gives him much of a chance, he is a relatively unknown quantity. You can bet the Republican Party will throw tons of money into his campaign, money Schlessinger would never have seen otherwise.

It would be ironic if the Republican party held on to control of the Seante by just this one Connecticutt Seante seat, due to the machinations of the Far Left, and their virulent hatred of any views contrary to theirs, and their dictatorial drive to dominate Democratic Party politics. Of course, they would blame it on Liebermans disloyalty and stubbornness in running as an independent and splitting the Democratic vote. But, though I don’t agree with his decision to run, I certainly understand his anger and frustration at the Far Left, and his desire to reign them in.

If Schlessinger wins, I am going to laugh my ass off at them. If Lamont wins, as a Democrat I will hope for and encourage the best. He might actually be the breath of fresh air the country needs. He might be of better character and higher quality than the nature of the origins of his candidacy might suggest.

If Liebermann wins, on the other hand, I won’t be the slightest bit upset. I certainly won't lose any sleep over it.